Technology

Following through on a plan he announced before he took office, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday that his first paycheck, which arrives on Friday, will be converted from US dollars into cryptocurrency. The transaction will take place on Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, and will convert Adams’ pay into Bitcoin and Ethereum. “New York is the center of the world, and we want it to be the center of cryptocurrency and other financial innovations,” Adams said in a statement. “Being on the forefront of such innovation will help us create jobs, improve our economy, and continue to be a magnet for talent from all over the globe.” Adams tweeted on November 4th that he would take his first three paychecks in Bitcoin when he became mayor because “In New York we alwa...

Twitter is rolling out its Communities feature, a rival to Facebook Groups and Reddit, to Android users worldwide. Since its launch in September, Twitter Communities has been limited to iOS or the web, meaning Android users could only join and participate in communities through a browser and not the native Twitter app. Android users can now easily join, request to join, or participate in Twitter Communities, opening up the feature to a lot more of Twitter’s userbase. Twitter Communities work like a private group, or like a subreddit. Twitter users can choose to tweet directly to a Twitter community, and that tweet won’t show up on their own feed or to their followers. Twitters Communities is still in beta Twitter Communities is still an invite-only feature for those wanting to create their...

Social media conglomerate Meta is exploring plans to let users create, showcase, and sell NFTs on Facebook and Instagram, according to a report from The Financial Times. If the company launches such tools, it would be the biggest show of mainstream support for NFTs to date, and help solidify the controversial assets’ place in the digital world. As per the FT, the plans are “at an early stage and could yet change.” The publication says teams at Facebook and Instagram are “readying” a feature that will let users display NFTs as their profile pictures, as well as working on a prototype to let users mint new NFTs. Others at Meta are reportedly discussing “launching a marketplace for users to buy and sell NFTs.” Exactly how far along these plans are is impossible to say, but it’s not the first ...

In a blog post published in the early hours of Thursday morning, cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com acknowledged that the company had lost well over $30 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum after a hack that took place on January 17th. The company has been criticized for vague communication around the hack, which was only officially confirmed yesterday by CEO Kris Marszalek. The new blog post said that the total value of the unauthorized withdrawals was 4,836.26 ETH and 443.93 BTC — equivalent to roughly $15.2 million and $18.6 million respectively, at current exchange rates — as well as $66,200 worth of other currencies. According to the post, 483 Crypto.com users had their accounts compromised. Crypto.com has said that all affected customers have been fully reimbursed for the losses. The late...

Spotify was the largest music streaming service in the world as of the second quarter of 2021 with a market share of 31 percent, with Apple Music in second place at 15 percent, and Amazon Music and Tencent Music each tied at third with 13 percent apiece. That’s according to a report from Midia Research, a media and entertainment-focused research and analysis agency. Although exact subscriber numbers and market shares may have changed in the months since Q2 2021 (the use of older data is because of how long the market analysis process takes, Midia tells me), the report sheds light on how the world’s biggest music streaming services are stacking up against one another. While Spotify releases official subscriber numbers at the end of each quarter (most recently in October last year), competit...

The 2022 Super Bowl won’t be broadcast or streamed in 4K again this year when the game takes place on February 13th, NBC Sports has confirmed to The Verge. The lack of a 4K stream marks the second year in a row that the big game won’t be available with the higher level of picture quality. “The game will not be in 4K,” Dan Masonson, a spokesperson for NBC Sports, told The Verge. NBC, which is hosting the big game this year, has never actually aired an NFL game in 4K or HDR before, despite hosting the nationally televised Sunday Night Football game every week during the regular NFL season. NBC, for what it’s worth, isn’t the only network: CBS doesn’t produce any of its games in 4K (the network cited COVID-19 issues for the lack of a 4K Super Bowl in 2021), nor does ESPN with Monday Nig...

Canon has announced a new camera that brings cinema-grade video capabilities to a conventional full-frame mirrorless body. The EOS R5C looks a lot like the EOS R5, which in turn looked a lot like a Canon DSLR, but it’s much bulkier in the back. This is to accommodate an active cooling system so it can shoot for long stretches without overheating. How long? Well, Canon says the cooling system allows the R5C to shoot up to 8K/60fps indefinitely. This was an issue with the R5; it was advertised as being able to shoot 8K for about 20 minutes, and Canon later released a firmware update to improve overheating problems. The R5C also supports 8K HDR recording in HLG and PQ formats as well as 4K/120fps recording in 4:2:2 10-bit color without cropping the sensor. As a stills camera, it’s essentially...

Crypto.com has just recognized that were was a cyber attack on its platform. Users were brought on to the news when their accounts suddenly required two-factor authentication sign-in, along with paused withdrawals. While users were quickly assured that everything was safe, Crypto.com CEO, Kris Marszalek, has just confirmed that up to 400 accounts were hacked, amounting to $15 million USD in stolen Ethereum (4,600 ETH). Marszalek has since revealed that all accounts were reimbursed and that, “given the scale of the business, these numbers are not particularly material and customer funds were not at risk.” In other crypto news, OpenSea acquires crypto wallet startup Dharma Labs. Read Full Article

Canon has now announced its new EOS R5 C, the brand’s first camera to support 8K/60p RAW video recording. Designed for filmmakers, documentarians, journalists, or perhaps very devoted hobbyists, the new EOS R5 C pairs a 45-megapixel full-frame sensor with a DIGIC X processor to allow for full 8K RAW recording at an impressive 60 frames per second, along with both 2K and 4K oversampling. Of course, you’ll also be able to capture fantastic stills with burst shooting up to 20fps, 1,053 automatic AF zones, and built-in eye, face, and head detection. Other features rounding out the camera include five-axis in-body image stabilization, both CFexpress and SD card support, a cooling fan, 13 marked and assignable buttons, and a mechanical and electronic shutter. For those interested, the Canon EOS ...

Here’s the scenario: you managed to get your hands on Apple’s hottest product, its $19 polishing cloth meant for cleaning nano-texture screens and other Apple devices. But oh no! Instead of hanging it up with the rest of your priceless artifacts, you accidentally used it to actually clean something, and now it’s dirty. Thankfully, Apple has bestowed us with a guide on how to make our cloth good as new, and 9to5Mac has brought those instructions to our attention. Are you ready? Here’s how Apple’s “How to clean the nano-texture glass on your Apple display” support article describes the process: 1. Hand wash the polishing cloth with dish soap and water. 2. Rinse thoroughly. 3. Allow the polishing cloth to air dry for at least 24 hours. The instructions have been on Apple’s website for at leas...

You’ve heard that PC graphics cards are nearly impossible to find, or that you’ll have to pay exorbitant sums. But if you were hoping the $200 budget AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT was about to change that, we have some very bad news. Reviewers are positively ripping it a new one, and not just because of its cost, or the fact it only has 4GB of VRAM — but apparently because this brand-new GPU is laughably bad. “[T]his is the worst GPU release since I can remember, and I’ve been doing this job for over two decades,” writes TechSpot’s Steven Walton. “AMD RX 6500 XT is worse than 2016’s GPUs,” declares Gamers Nexus. “WTF AMD!?” and “WTF is AMD thinking?,” ask Hardware Canucks and KitGuruTech respectively. “A GPU you might be able to buy… but shouldn’t,” writes Linus Tech Tips. “Worst GPU,” decla...

If you’re a new or existing user of YouTube Premium and Music Premium, which let you watch and listen ad-free, you might be able to save up to $36 a year with Google’s new annual plans, as 9to5Google reports. From now until Sunday, January 23rd, users can receive an extra discount with the promo rate, but the new annual plans cost less than the current monthly rate either way. YouTube Premium’s new annual plan is currently selling for $107.99, roughly $36 less than you’d pay for a year at its current monthly price of $143.88. For YouTube Premium Music subscribers, the annual rate is currently $89.99, but will be priced at $119.88 after Sunday — still nearly a $30 savings over paying monthly. Users are still able to sign-up for a month-to-month subscription, too — $11.99 for YouTube Premium...